ZeroOne
by Deronis
Summary: Louise wanted to summon a powerful familiar, something that would show everyone that she was more than just a Zero. She got what she wished for, but someone should have warned her. After all, it's not the mobile suit that's dangerous. It's the pilot inside.
1. Prologue

A.N. - Hello everyone, this is the first time I've practiced writing in quite a few years, though I frequently read fan fictions from others on this site and have done so for quite some time. I would like to say first that this story was inspired, like so many others I have seen, by Gabriel Blessing's stories "Hill of Swords" and "In Flight," both of which I highly suggest reading.

That being said, I would have probably been content to simply continue reading fan fictions as opposed to writing them if the idea for this story hadn't come across me. I would have loved to read this crossover if it were written by someone else, but given how old the series involved is I doubt it would have ever been done. So I figured I may as well take a crack at writing if, if for no other reason than the hope that someone will see the idea and decide to do it better than I am capable.

While I doubt it needs to be said, I should confirm that I do not own The Familiar of Zero or Gundam Wing, and that this story is not intended to make me any profit.

With that said, please enjoy the following as best as you are able:

Zero-One

Prologue – Fallen Angel

"Grandpa, what is that?" The little girl asked, eyes sparkling brightly as she gazed up at the sky.

"An angel falling from heaven, trying to erase the sins of man my dear. Pray for him, won't you?"

The girl smiled and nodded. "Mmm! I will!"

* * *

Far above the earth a group was watching the momentous event from another angle.

"He's not gonna make it!" A young technician worriedly exclaimed from a nearby data station.

"Oh, he'll make it." A slightly older woman with golden hair replied, as she calmly watched the ship's external display.

"But he's gotta make it through the atmosphere's high temperature!" The technician responded.

"From what I've seen, the gundams can overcome any obstacle." A strict looking woman with long, dark brown hair replied.

"That's true. We can believe in him." The youngest of those watching said. "Because Heero can give everyone hope!"

And so Relena Peacecraft, along with her friends, comrades and former enemies watched and hoped. The fate of the world was about to be decided, and not even the former queen of that world could do anything but observe in silence.

* * *

Red warning lights were all that lit the small cockpit surrounding him, and sirens were going off continually. Though he supposed that the color of the lighting could be a result of the gundam breaching the atmosphere as well.

Heero Yuy ignored the alarms as he made several small adjustments to his approach vector. His gundam shrieked in protest as it fought against the intense turbulence and heat that resulted. He ignored that too. Nothing mattered now except finishing his mission. The most important mission he had ever been entrusted with, and possibly the last as well.

He glanced to a monitor on his right as a bright flash of red emanated from it. The last remaining section of the space battle station Libras had just entered the atmosphere as well, and was giving off an amazing amount of energy. Still, the remaining block was too big to be burned up entirely, and the power supply it carried would be enough to ensure a never-ending winter for the planet earth if it made contact. Millions would die in the resulting blast, and billions would follow as the earth turned into a barren tundra in the space of a few weeks. He wouldn't allow that to happen.

"I will." He said to himself. Pieces of the gundam were beginning to break free. He hadn't lost any critical systems yet, but it was only a matter of time.

Heero thought back to the path that had led him here. Trained from a young age to be the perfect soldier, he had been molded from birth to change the world. Now he was the only one capable of saving it.

"I will…" He repeated. The intense heat and shaking were getting worse. Targeting the falling station in these conditions was a nearly impossible task.

During his struggle against the corrupt earth sphere, and the secretive society named OZ, he had come across many different people. Some were enemies, others allies. His experiences had changed him, and for a time he had been concerned that he had been made weaker as a result; a lesser weapon. He knew better now.

"I will!" The targeting system was getting close now. It kept wavering back and forth across the body of the block. More of the gundam's heat shielding was breaking free. He would only get one shot at this, and anything but a direct hit on the power core would be insufficient to prevent the earth from being devastated. Maybe Zech's plan to drive the thought of war from the hearts of men by creating a tragedy to dwarf all others could work, but he wouldn't allow it. Peace gained through such means would have no meaning.

Peace was something that Heero had always fought for but never understood. He was born and raised to be a weapon. Peace was a fine goal for soldiers, but in the end he had always understood that all it would mean for him was to be discarded. Until he had met her. The one who had made him understand not only the possibility of true peace, but who had also believed that he had a place in it. Because of her, he could finally believe in a life beyond the battlefield.

"I will survive!" He proclaimed as the targeting sensors finally established a lock onto the falling space station. A massive beam of energy shot out of the enormous rifle tearing across the sky towards the massive block of debris. The station was pierced through by the powerful beam, and for a moment he was afraid he had missed. His worries turned out to be for nothing though, as a second later a massive explosion tore through its center and scattered the remains of the station to the corners of the earth like so many shooting stars.

The explosion was so vast that it obscured the sensors of all the ships watching these events unfold, so no one noticed a huge green portal opening behind the Wing Zero as the shockwave of the explosion catapulted it through. Its pilot would be remembered for the rest of time in this world as the savior of the earth sphere, who helped to usher in a new age of peace and prosperity for man. In another world, a new chapter in his story was about to begin…

* * *

Louise Francoise de La Valliere wrung her hands nervously as she observed the results of the ritual. This time, for sure, she couldn't have made any mistakes. She was sure that the spell had been performed perfectly. But for every heartbeat that went by her hopes sank further. None of the other students' spells had had any delay. Their familiars had appeared as soon as the incantation had been completed. She couldn't bear the thought that she had failed again, especially after…

Wait, what was that? A green oval had appeared in the air over where she had arranged her runic circle. Well, at the very least it was better than anoth-

_Boom!_ A huge crash sounded throughout the courtyard and the startled yells of students could be heard as the resulting tremors in the ground knocked them from their feet. An enormous amount of dust had been knocked into the air, preventing her from seeing anything further than two feet in front of her.

Dear Founder! That had been the biggest explosion that she had ever caused! And Louise was, unfortunately, quite experienced with causing explosions. She winced as she thought of what Professor Colbert and the other staff members would have to say regarding this mess. And that was nothing compared to the reaction her fellow classmates would have. A breeze blew past her as she absentmindedly attempted to dismiss the situation.

"It was nothing! Just a small… mistake…" Louise trailed off as the wind, likely summoned by one of her fellow students, began to clear away the obscuring clouds of dust. As the dust dispersed, she was able to make out the first glimpses of just what it was that she had summoned. It was huge! Far larger than any of the other familiars had been. It also seemed to be made of… metal? It looked vaguely human in shape, and as she continued examining it, eyes growing wider all the time, its head turned towards her and its eyes began glowing with an intense green light.

Louise reacted as any rational person in her situation would and promptly fainted.

AN – I won't make it a habit of doing two of these a chapter, but I wanted to make a few things known for the fic. First, I am not a consistent writer. I sadly will likely not keep to any type of schedule. I do have a plan for the fic though, and have every intention of finishing it. I just can't promise that it will be updated weekly, though if the mood strikes me you could see several chapters in the course of a few days. Most chapters should end up being significantly longer than this prologue.

Another note, this story takes place at the end of the Gundam Wing television series but before Endless Waltz. There will be no further scenes in the Gundam Wing universe, so you can be left to assume that the events from Endless Waltz do not occur. The Gundam Heero is piloting is the Wing Zero Custom, despite the fact that in canon he would have been flying the standard Wing Zero.


	2. 01 Introductions

A.N: First, thank you everyone who has reviewed. I am glad to see that there are some other people who are interested in this particular crossover.

For those of you who are worried about the power gap that having Wing Zero in this universe will cause, all I can do is say that I understand your concerns. It is arguably the most dangerous thing their world the moment it is summoned. That being said, I have no interest in writing a fic where Heero comes in and just completely runs rampant in the Familiar of Zero universe unchecked.

As I thought through the different arcs that I plan on taking this story through, I realized something kind of strange. For a non-mecha series, the Familiar of Zero universe actually has quite a few situations where the Gundam will mesh in quite well in my opinion. As for the arcs that don't, well, I have a plan for that as well. The groundwork for which is layed out in this chapter, though it will be delved into more in the future.

In the end, all I can say is this. I have no intention to weaken the Wing Zero to the point that having it in the story is meaningless. If I wanted that I would have had her summon Heero by himself. I also don't intend to have it be a game breaking omni-fix for every problem.

One last thing. I actually had the majority of this chapter finished by the time I uploaded the prologue, and just put the finishing touches on it today. In the future, new chapters will probably be quite a bit slower to come out. I will endeavor to make sure that all the chapters from this point forward are approximately this length or longer though.

Chapter: 01 - Introduction

Heero's eyes snapped open. He was still strapped into the cockpit of the Wing Zero. Confused for a moment, he felt his head and was unsurprised when his hand came away sticky and wet. Taking a moment to assess his condition, he realized that his left leg was broken. The burning sensation he felt whenever he took a breath indicated that his ribs likely weren't in the best of shape either. Still, he supposed, considering that he must have just crash landed on earth after falling from the stratosphere it was remarkable that he was alive at all.

Reassured that he wasn't in need of immediate medical aid, Heero ignored his injuries in favor of checking the damage to Zero. A quick scan of the consoles in front of him was encouraging. Much of the outer layer of armor had been damaged by the heat from the atmosphere, but only the sections meant specifically for taking the brunt of the abuse from reentry had actually been lost. Those sections were mostly along the wings and had little effect on his combat capability. The frame of the Gundam itself seemed to be entirely intact, which would allow him to move without difficulty.

The dim lighting and lack of external visuals led him to believe that the mobile suit was currently running dark. He must have been unconscious for some time for Zero to switch off the main power on its own. An intense pain ran through Heero's head as he began to power up the micro fusion reactor that supplied the Gundam with the incredible amount of energy necessary to move its huge weight. His vision swam for a moment, and his mouth felt suddenly dry. A concussion. Hn.

Focusing through the pain, Heero continued running through the power up sequence. He had no idea which region of earth he had landed in, and while the gundanium alloy used to construct his machine would render him invisible to radar, his uncontrolled landing would have likely alerted any nearby military forces to his location. Many factions on the earth had neither forgotten nor forgiven the extreme actions the Gundams had taken early on in the war. There was no telling whether or not he would be attacked at any moment until his sensors were back online.

The brighter cockpit lights flickered on and off before slowly stabilizing while a low hum of power became steadily louder. Heero felt the head of the gundam shift slightly as the main sensors embedded with in it recalibrated. There was a faint clicking noise as the main displays finally came online and showed the images now being recorded in a one hundred eighty degree range in front of the machine. Heero was slightly bemused as he saw a shocked looking pink headed girl staring directly at the eye mounted sensors scarcely 10 yards away from his mobile suit.

The girl promptly collapsed, confirming the initial suspicion Heero had developed from the lack of warning alarms from the radar system. It appeared he had crash landed in a civilian area. No enemy mobile suits or vehicles were registering anywhere within a 20 mile radius. Oddly, his sensors also weren't picking up any significant power sources anywhere within the immediate vicinity. His satellite tracking systems had yet to come online, preventing him from widening his search area. It was unusual for them to take such a long time to activate, and he was beginning to suspect that they may have been damaged in the fall.

While Heero was relieved that he wasn't in any danger of immediate attack, landing in a civilian settlement brought its own concerns. Examining the area immediately surrounding his Gundam, he slowly commanded it to stand from its prone position. He could only hope that no one had been unfortunate enough to be directly below him when he had fallen. Luckily it seemed that he had landed in what appeared to be a courtyard of some sort. Turning the Gundam's head, Heero examined his surrounding more closely.

It looked as though he had fallen within the stone walls of an odd compound, which bore a passing resemblance to the castles found in Western Europe. The architecture was wrong though, and the layout was unlike anything he had seen previously. His mobile suit was surrounded by young men and women, all of whom appeared to be unarmed. An older man was approaching the girl who had fainted previously and appeared to be attempting to rouse her.

Given the demographics involved, Heero was beginning to suspect that he had landed in a college of some sort. The young men and women were also wearing what appeared to be a uniform of some kind, though they didn't match any sort of style Heero had seen while preparing for his infiltration of a high class school the previous year. Still, their matching dress gave further credence to his theory.

Heero ignored the main sensors for a moment and started adjusting the settings for his radar and other backup systems. His satellite system had still yet to establish a link, all but confirming to him that it was malfunctioning. While this was troubling, as it would limit his sensor range and interfere with his targeting systems, he was capable of making adjustments to his more basic monitoring devices to increase his range. Unfortunately it also meant that any attempts at communication would have to be made using his radio system, which could be intercepted by hostiles and used to narrow down his location.

His battle with Epyon and the subsequent flight through the atmosphere had exhausted most of his thruster fuel. While his primary hydraulic systems used to manipulate the Gundams limbs were powered by the micro fusion reactor housed in its abdomen, as were the small maneuvering thrusters used for precise course adjustments, his primary thrusters ran on combustible fuels. Without them any long range treks would be difficult and time consuming, especially if he was trying to remain unnoticed in enemy territory. It would also make escaping incredibly difficult if it became necessary to do so.

Heero couldn't afford to waste any of his remaining fuel flying in the wrong direction. His best option at this point would be to attempt to make his way to the Sanc kingdom. Relena would be willing to shelter him, and would have the resources to ensure that Wing Zero was safely hidden away. His only choices were to radio his location using a code known only by his fellow Gundam pilots and wait for aid or directions, or alternatively to extend his limited monitoring capabilities to their maximum and hope that he could identify his current location on his own.

Heero's vision began to swim as he continued making adjustments to the radar. He had yet to detect the presence of any vehicles in a radius of 40 miles, military or otherwise. He couldn't begin to imagine how the large group of people still crowded around his mobile suit had gathered here. He also hadn't detected any power sources within 20 miles, and was having difficulty extending the range of his sensors any further. Moreover, the geography of the surrounding area didn't look remotely familiar to him. That was odd, as he had studied the landscape of the European continent extensively in preparation for operation meteor. He may have to consider that he was somewhere else entirely.

Briefly examining the main display again, Heero noticed an odd sight. The older man had finally succeeded in rousing the pink headed girl, and they appeared to be arguing. While he was able to listen to the conversation using Zero's speakers, they were speaking a language that he was unable to identify. The man was pointing repeatedly towards Wing Zero with a stern look on his face, while the girl was wringing her hands and wore a pleading expression. Heero's eyes narrowed as, looking quite afraid, the girl began approaching the mobile suit.

* * *

"Miss Louise."

Louise began to stir as she felt someone lightly shaking her by the shoulder. She had been having the strangest dream. She had been preparing to summon her familiar when all of a sudden a giant metal man had appeared and stepped on Kirche. In all honesty, it was the best dream she could remember having in quite some time…

"Miss Louise!" The shaking was becoming a bit more insistent, and Louise recognized the voice as Professor Colbert, one of the few instructors who didn't treat Louise as a mildly dangerous nuisance. His voice seemed oddly strained for the normally easy going man.

Louise opened her eyes slowly and then suddenly paled at the sight in front of her. With the smoke from earlier gone she could now clearly see the full scope of the being she had summoned. Oh founder, that was right. She had summoned this thing hadn't she? What was she going to do now?

"Louise." Professor Colbert said sternly, looking down at the young girl still propped up in his arms. "You must complete the ritual."

"Wh...what? You can't expect me to complete the ritual with that… thing! Can't I try again?" She asked nervously.

"Louise, look around you!" The professor exclaimed, gesturing to all of the students still gathered in the courtyard. Most of them were gazing up at the beast Louise had summoned with terrified expressions, and some of them had even fallen to the ground as their legs refused to support them any longer. "You have to get that thing under control before someone is hurt. Try again? What if you summoned another one? And what would we do with this one? And that's completely ignoring the disrespect you would be showing the founder in repeating such a sacred ritual!" He rattled off, clearly trying to avoid panicking himself.

Louise shrank in on herself as she realized that she had likely endangered the lives of her fellow students with the results of her summoning ritual. Why was it that even her successes (1 and counting!) turned out badly? Was she truly that cursed?

"Isn't there any other way?" She pleaded with her favorite professor.

"Louise," He began, his face softening slightly "I understand that you are afraid, but it is your duty as a noble to bind your familiar to your will; not only for the sake of your classmates, but also as part of an ancient and sacred rite of passage. What would your mother think if you were able to call forth such an impressive summons but lacked the courage to complete the ritual?"

At the mention of her mother, Louise stiffened. There was only one rule her mother had ever followed, the rule of steel. For all that Louise had been a disappointment in her magical studies, she knew that the one thing that would completely destroy her mothers respect for her would be to break that rule and allow fear to prevent her from carrying out her duties as a noble. Swallowing, she nodded once to her professor and turned to face the immense… golem… that she had summoned. It appeared to be gazing off into the distance over her head, completely unresponsive to the goings on around it.

Straight backed and only slightly shaking, she addressed it. "I am Louise Francoise de La Valliere. I have summoned you, familiar, and you will obey me!"

Louise's classmates, or at least those close enough to hear her, looked at her in stunned disbelief. She couldn't possibly be thinking of approaching this beast, could she? It could squash her like a bug without even trying!

"Louise!" Yelled a slightly older looking girl with a large bust and flaming red hair. "You are too young to die, darling! I take back what I said about your summons! You win! Just don't get squished!"

Louise's eye twitched as she heard her rival continue yelling at her to stop, and who was beginning to list all the terrible ways she could be killed. She had worked all the way up to spontaneous death from inadequacy when Louise finally snapped back.

"Shut up Kirche! I'm a noble too, and this thing will be my familiar, so help me Founder. Just watch me; I'm going to complete the ritual perfectly!"

Louise gulped and pushed the thoughts (and yells) of the annoying redhead out of her mind. Not only her pride as a noble and the respect of her family were on the line now. Now she had to go through with this or she would lose to Kirche! Straight backed and stiff, Louise began marching towards the giant summon with all the grace of a toy soldier.

When she had finally gotten close enough to reach out and touch it, she realized that the giant creature was so large that she couldn't even reach above its foot. Steeling her resolve, she pulled out her wand and began carefully reciting the spell which would bind the being to her will.

"Pentagon of the five elemental powers…"

* * *

Initially Heero had been concerned when the oddly dressed girl had begun approaching his suit. When she had pulled out a black cylinder from within her cape he had very nearly retaliated, but had refrained due to the lack of readings from his sensors. He had no desire to kill a civilian, regardless of how odd they were acting. And as nearly as his sensors could determine, she was waving around a simple stick, not a detonator. When she leaned forward and pressed her lips to the foot of Wing Zero, Heero disregarded her as a threat entirely and turned his attention elsewhere.

It was beginning to get harder to focus through the pain. Breathing was becoming more difficult, and it appeared he may have underestimated the severity of his head injury. Grimacing, Heero decided that he had little choice but to attempt radioing for help. Opening up a coded frequency, he attempted to contact the other Gundams.

"This is Heero Yuy. I have landed at an unknown location on planet Earth. My satellite systems are damaged, and I have sustained minor injuries. Please respond. Over."

Heero waited for a response. While he didn't expect one right away, he was concerned by what he saw while checking his receiver. He wasn't picking up any radio waves. None. Speaking frankly, that should have been impossible anywhere on planet earth or its immediate surroundings. Oddly he could not determine any other signs of malfunction on the device aside from the complete lack of outside signals, and it seemed to be transmitting correctly.

Coughing violently, Heero's hand came away bloody when he removed it from his mouth. Grimacing, he was forced to admit that he was in fact far more injured than he had originally assumed. While his training and sheer willpower allowed him to ignore the pain of most injuries, it wouldn't prevent him from dying from internal bleeding. His choices were dwindling rapidly. Even if he knew which direction to travel in, he was unsure of whether his fuel or his body would last the trip. All attempts to determine his location had been unsuccessful, as had his attempt at calling for help.

It seemed that his only remaining option would be to make contact with the local populace and hope that they would be willing and able to offer him medical aid. He hated the idea of leaving his Gundam out in the open, but there was little else he could do at this point. As Heero prepared to exit the mobile suit using the kick line, he activated the self destruct system for Wing Zero.

If it were to detonate, it would doubtlessly cause considerable damage to the nearby structures, to say nothing of anyone unfortunate enough to be standing nearby. While regrettable, that was nothing compared to the amount of damage the suit could do should it fall into the wrong hands. With the current settings, the suit would only detonate if someone attempted to force open the cockpit, or if he failed to input the override code within seven days. Hopefully the locals wouldn't be foolish enough to attempt forcing their way into the suit.

With all the fail safes he could currently manage in place, Heero prepared to descend as another intense bout of dizziness hit him. The cockpit glowed as the chest armor parted to make was for him to exit the craft.

* * *

Louise stood awkwardly by the foot of the large metal being after she completed the contract servant ritual. An awkward and tense number of minutes passed as she waited for some sign that the spell had worked. As time continued to pass by without any further movement from the giant summon, some of her classmates were beginning to regain their confidence.

"What do you expect from Louise the Zero? Of course it's defective!"

"Look, look! Louise summoned a statue! Well, at least it was more than just an explosion this time."

Louise tried to ignore them as the jeers and laughter grew louder. She hadn't failed! She had summoned something huge and powerful, hadn't she? I mean, look at how big it was! Still, doubt was creeping into the back of her mind. So far all it had done was fall down and stand up, and she hadn't seen any reaction to her attempts to bind it so far. Professor Colbert was frowning and it seemed like he was about to say something when a hissing sound and bright light from the center of the golem startled everyone into silence.

Louise, who had been standing directly in front of the massive familiar, had been so startled that she fell backwards onto the ground as she looked fearfully up to whatever was happening. It seemed as though the things center was splitting open, revealing a hidden cavity inside. And out of it crawled… a man?

Stunned, Louise watched as the man… no, a boy barely older than herself, climbed out of the belly of the golem. He placed his right foot into a triangle attached to a rope that slowly lowered him down directly in front of the speechless girl. The entire courtyard was so silent that you could hear the sound of the breeze blowing by as it ruffled his dark brown hair. Looking up into his chocolate colored eyes, Louise could only listen with rapt attention as he started speaking to her when he finally reached the ground.

"My name is Heero Yuy. It's a pleasure." The boy stated before collapsing to the dirt, blood dripping down his face.

Still dazed, Louise could only confusedly mutter, "Huh?"

* * *

A slight breeze blew through an open window overlooking the well manicured courtyard below the infirmary. While it rustled a few loose pieces of parchment sitting on a small desk across from the mostly empty beds, nothing else in the room stirred. Despite that, the patient of the sole occupied bed was suddenly quite awake.

Breathing evenly and not moving in the slightest, to all the outside world it seemed that one Heero Yuy was still sleeping. His mind, however, was working quickly to determine what kind of situation he had found himself in.

No restraints. That was a good sign, but didn't necessarily indicate that his hosts were friendly. They were, from all that he had briefly seen of them, just civilians. They may simply not know the proper methods of restraining prisoners. Regardless, there was another issue that was far more concerning.

Heero felt good. Too good, in fact. Given the extent of his injuries, it would have taken even him weeks to heal to this point. His breathing was unlabored, and unless he was mistaken his leg was no longer broken. Despite all this, he didn't feel any of the fuzziness that generally accompanied sedatives or pain killers. Another troubling thing to note was that he didn't hear or sense the presence of any medical equipment. No constant whirring of monitoring devices, no soft glow from diagnostics screens, not even the slight prickle of an I.V. It was almost enough to convince him that he wasn't in a hospital at all, but there were enough familiar scents to make him question that conclusion; freshly made beds, alcoholic wipes, and the almost imperceptible smell of sickness.

All of this left Heero with a slightly distressing inability to determine how much time he had spent unconscious. He hadn't detected any vehicles in the surrounding area before exiting his Gundam, but if he had been out for weeks then there was no telling who had found him, or where he had been taken. Equally problematic was the self destruct sequence he had activated before succumbing to his injuries. He hadn't had much choice in the matter, but the number of civilian deaths that would have resulted from the fusion reactors controlled detonation would likely have been significant if the area hadn't been evacuated in time.

Muffled footsteps and voices were faintly audible, and seemed to be coming closer. Likely a small group approaching the doorway from a hall, he determined. As they came closer he was able to separate the footsteps. The group contained three people. Two adults and one child, the only male was one of the adults. The conversation, now clearly audible, was held in the same language he had heard the people in the courtyard speaking after he had crashed. It sounded vaguely similar to French, but Heero still couldn't place exactly what dialect was being spoken.

The door opened and the three entered the room. The two women seemed to be deep in conversation, and Heero prevented himself from tensing as they came to a stop beside his bed. The two women continued speaking for a while longer, with the man occasionally chipping in. It seemed as though the two were answering questions posed by their younger companion, whom Heero was beginning to believe was slightly older than he had originally assumed.

Listening a while longer, Heero came to the conclusion that there was little more to be gained by feigning unconsciousness. The fact that they were speaking the same language as before meant he was in the same general region as where he had originally landed, and without restraints it was unlikely that they could stop him if he decided to leave. He would simply obtain what answers he could and then attempt to find the remains of his Gundam to ensure that it had been properly destroyed in the blast.

Opening his eyes, Heero took in the room in an instant. While clearly a medical ward, it lacked any sort of advanced equipment. Several beds were lined up in a row, one of which he was occupying, and the walls were lined with cabinets filled to the brim with bottles of every shape and size, along with various other odds and ends. All in all, the room wouldn't have been out of place in a high school. The only thing that stuck out as odd were the stone walls and floor, but that just further confirmed that he likely hadn't been transported away from the odd looking structure that he had landed near.

Turning his head he faced the three other occupants of the room. The conversation they had been carrying ceased as they noticed that he was awake. He recognized two of them; the middle aged bald man and the pink haired girl. The third was a slightly heavy set woman with curly brown hair and round cheeks.

"Do any of you speak English?" He asked.

The pink haired girl blinked owlishly at him, and neither of the other two seemed to understand either. Heero repeated the question in Japanese with a similar response.

By this point the girl seemed to have recovered herself from his sudden waking. She turned to the bald headed man and started speaking rapidly in their strange tongue, occasionally pointing towards the window.

In response the man slowly shook his head and pointed in Heero's direction. His response was short and deliberate, and seemed to irritate the girl quite badly. She began yelling at the older man while stomping her feet and occasionally making wide gestures in the direction of the bed ridden young man.

The bald man's eyes narrowed and his short response was tinged with a hint of aggravation. The pinkette flinched, and glanced towards the floor.

* * *

Louise startled slightly as Professor Colbert's hand came down on her shoulder. She looked up to see his face soften as he looked down at her kindly.

"Louise, I know that you wanted the golem to be your familiar, but you know as well as I do that that is impossible. We've had countless mages inspecting it. It has no magic, and it is not alive. Your earlier attempts to bind it did not work simply because it is not a creature to be tamed. I'm not sure how it was moving earlier, but I suspect that this young man had something to do with it. He is the one you truly summoned."

"But Professor, how could I have summoned a plebian? The doctors didn't find any magic in him either; he couldn't have moved the golem on his own. Do I really have to finish the ritual with h-him?" She asked, blushing slightly.

"Louise." He scolded lightly, "There is a time and place for modesty. You should be proud of yourself. You have completed the summon familiar spell. No one can doubt your ability as a mage any longer. The only thing left is to finish the ritual with bind servant."

During the course of their conversation, the young man sitting up on the bed had simply observed them quietly. The boy set Colbert ill at ease. He had not missed the lack of reaction when the young man had woken up. The young man had simply opened his eyes and observed the room quietly before making his only attempts at communication thus far. Still, there was nothing that he had done yet to prove himself dangerous.

Even so, as Louise collected herself and began preparing for the ritual, Colbert kept his attention on the stranger. He noted the boy's eyes narrowing when he saw the young student taking out her wand and pointing it in his direction. Putting his hands up in a non-threatening manner, Colbert attempted to focus the young mans attention back on himself and simultaneously convey that there was no need to be alarmed. While he wasn't certain that he had succeeded in getting the boy to relax, he at least hadn't made any attempts to interfere as Louise began chanting her spell.

"Pentagon of the five elemental powers, grant your blessings upon this creature and bind it as my familiar!" He heard her chant, as she waved her wand in a complex pattern above the young man she had inadvertently summoned. Throughout it all the boy scarcely moved, even when she leaned in to complete the contract with a kiss. Colbert wasn't fooled though. The younger mans eyes had taken in every movement Louise had made, and he had no doubt that if the boy had detected any signs of aggression he would have reacted, perhaps violently.

Practically glowing red, Louise quickly stepped back away from the boy, whom had still yet to react in any significant way. After a momentary pause, however, the young man's eyes widened a fraction of an inch and his left hand twitched. As the boy focused his attention on his arm it began to flush a dark red, and it almost seemed as though steam was coming from the back of his left hand. As that hand started to clench into a fist, Colbert realized what was about to happen a moment too late. He heard Madame Delan, the water mage in charge of the young mans recovery, gasp behind him as he was quite suddenly standing face to face with the serious looking youth.

The young man's right arm was snaked around Louise's neck, and Colbert was sure that one swift movement could snap it instantly. His left arm was pointed out at Colbert, with the newly engraved runes on the back of his hand plainly visible. The boy's deep brown eyes narrowed as he stared intensely at Colbert. As though to show that he was serious, he lifted up on the arm holding Louise until she was standing on the tips of her toes, looking to Colbert with wide eyes and a terrified expression.

"Explain." Was all the boy said, as the setting sun began casting dark shadows throughout the room.

* * *

As Heero raised the arm holding his hostage threateningly, the bald headed man took a half step back and raised his hands in a pacifying gesture.

"Wait, wait. I'll answer any questions you have. I'd ask that you please release my student first though." Heero's eyes narrowed at the response. Not at the words themselves, but at the fact he understood them.

"You aren't speaking English." Heero stated.

"English? Erm, well, no. I'm speaking Halkeganian. I take it English is that odd language you were speaking to us in before?" The man replied, somewhat nonplussed.

Halkeganian? Heero hadn't even heard of that language before, let alone been able to understand it. That was to say nothing of the fact that the odd man in front of him apparently believed that Heero was speaking it as well. Still, whatever language it was that the man was using, it certainly wasn't English. It wasn't Japanese either. And given that those were the only two languages Heero could speak fluently, something was very wrong here.

"Where am I?" He questioned, choosing to ignore the odd ease of their communication… for now.

"You are in the Tristain Academy of Magic." The man replied. His eyes narrowed slightly as he continued, "As I have said, I am willing to answer your questions. Please release my student."

Heero glanced down at the girl he was holding. Her face was red as she struggled to breath in the light choke hold he was maintaining. It was clear that she was trying not to panic, and equally clear that she was on the verge of failing. Heero relented slightly, and loosened his grip to allow her feet firm grip on the floor beneath. She began breathing in large, greedy gulps. He did not release her, however, and kept her body held firmly against him. Just because the man was being cooperative thus far did not mean Heero was going to give up his collateral.

"Academy of… Magic?" Heero asked, unable to keep from pausing mid way despite himself. The man looked absolutely serious, despite the absurdity of the statement.

"Yes. This is a school for the young nobles of Tristain." The man answered, apparently misinterpreting his confusion. "Young Miss Valliere there is the one who summoned you during the familiar summoning ritual. Those runes on the back of your hand are the proof of the contract." The man continued, sounding for all the world as though he believed he had just cleared up a simple misunderstanding.

Heero was perplexed. The man obviously believed what he was saying to be the truth. Was it possible that he had landed in the middle of some sort of cult? Perhaps they truly believed that they had somehow magically summoned him here. But still… There were too many odd things going on that he couldn't explain, spontaneous tattoos aside. How was he speaking their language? Why didn't he pick up any radio signals after he landed? How had his injuries been treated so thoroughly in what appeared to be a school nurse's office? None of it made any sense. He needed more information.

"How long have I been unconscious?" He asked.

"Ah." The woman standing behind the… professor hesitantly spoke up. "You've been asleep for two days. Your injuries were quite extensive, and we had to keep you in a healing trance for the entire time. Miss Valliere provided a powerful reagent to speed up your recovery. Without it, you would have been bed-ridden for months."

Said young lady had apparently gotten over her initial fear of being held hostage, and was starting to squirm around. Heero's eyes narrowed as she looked suspiciously as though she were about to try to bite him. He tightened his grip for a moment and she stilled, though the look she was giving him was becoming more mutinous than fearful.

* * *

Louise had been having a rather difficult couple of days.

It had started with her attempt at the summoning ritual. Her success had been somewhat unexpected, not that she would ever admit that to anyone. At the time she had been hoping for anything but an explosion to appear, a prayer that ironically went unanswered despite her success. Still, she would have been thrilled with the results of her summoning despite the explosion if things had only gone normally from there. Once she had gotten over being terrified of the very thing she had summoned, of course.

Unfortunately, it seemed that nothing could ever be easy for Louise. Despite successfully summoning an impressive looking familiar, she had been unable to bind it. And to top it all off, a strange young man had popped out of its chest before collapsing.

Louise wasn't a fool. As soon as she had seen the boy come out of the golem, she had an uncomfortable suspicion that she hadn't summoned a great and powerful familiar after all. Professor Colbert seemed to share these thoughts, and had enlisted the aid of several other professors to surround the motionless giant and run all manner of magical tests on it while several others rushed the bleeding boy off to the infirmary.

The looks of awe on her fellow students' faces weren't the reason she had continued clinging to the hope that this massive beast was her familiar at all. No, it was simply because summoning a human was impossible, everyone knew that. And if her chest had puffed out a little bit when passerbys looked at the strange sight with wide eyes over the next two days, well, who could blame her? Louise had had very little to be proud of regarding her magic during her time at the academy so far.

Of course, when the infirmary staff had asked her if she could provide assistance in providing a reagent to help along the strange boy's recovery, she had spared no expense. After all, if the young man had been attacked by her familiar (even if it was before she summoned it) then it was her duty as its master to provide whatever aid she could. She ignored the voice in the back of her mind telling her that perhaps the golem wasn't what she had summoned at all, and that helping the boy get better might be more directly her responsibility than she was willing to admit.

When Professor Colbert had finally come and told her that the golem was neither magical nor alive, and that the boy had been officially accepted as the being she had summoned, she might have thrown a bit of a tantrum. It was perfectly understandable, after all. Who wanted to admit that instead of a massive, powerful looking familiar such as the winged golem they were stuck with a boring plebian (and by this point it had been confirmed that, just like the golem, the boy was totally bereft of magic).

Still, a success was a success, and so when the professor and one of the nursing staff's water mages came to let her know the boy would be awakening soon, she had come along fully prepared to finally finish the ritual. And if she had made one last attempt to change their minds regarding the true target of her summoning, well, no one had ever accused her of giving up easily.

Now, as she found herself being held uncomfortably tightly around her neck, she was fondly wishing that the golem had been her real summon after all, and that it had eaten this incredibly rude young man. One whom, it appeared, was determined to carry out an entire conversation with her two teachers while idly choking the life out of her. Glaring at his arm, she was debating whether or not to try taking a chunk out of it when she felt him tighten his grip even further. Struggling to look up and face him, she glared at him fiercely.

Didn't this commoner know who he was assaulting? She was the daughter of a Duke! And moreover, she was this lowly dog's master. How dare he assault her and then act like she was nothing but a nuisance!

Seemingly oblivious to her growing ire, said dog was continuing his interrogation of the two adults.

"Where is my mobile suit?" He asked, still addressing the only other man in the room.

His what? Louise thought. It was then she became uncomfortably aware that her captor was wearing nothing but a thin hospital gown. He was probably asking the location of the strange clothes he was wearing at his arrival. Her face started to flush again, though this time for a slightly different reason.

"Ah, sir, I'm afraid we had to remove your clothes to wash them. They had quite a bit of blood on them when you arrived." The woman behind the professor interrupted. "They are in the cupboard across the hall if you would like me to retrieve them."

The boy just looked at her as though she had suddenly begun speaking another language again. "I meant my Gundam." He elaborated.

"Gundam?" Professor Colbert chimed in curiously.

While this byplay went on, Louise's embarrassment was quickly turning back to anger. How dare this lowborn commoner hold her, a noble born lady, so intimately? And that was after he had the nerve to steal her first k-kiss! Louise conveniently ignored that she had been the one to kiss him. Instead, she was working herself up into a towering fury.

"You…." She began, literally shaking.

Abruptly the conversation the others were involved in was stopped, as they all shifted their focus to Louise. Professor Colbert's eyes widened and he began shaking his head at her, to no avail.

"You damn dog!" She yelled suddenly, "How dare you treat your master this way! Do you have any idea just who you're holding like this?"

Louise "eeped" as her captors hold tightened and she suddenly found herself standing on her toes again.

"Master…" the boy started, turning his head to once more stare Professor Colbert in the eyes, "What exactly does she mean by master?" He continued with a slight hint of menace in his voice.

"Ah, yes, well." The professor began as he dabbed at the light sweat which was starting to form on his brow, "Technically, as Miss Valliere was the one to summon you and complete the bind servant spell, that makes you her familiar. Which is to say, technically speaking, one could refer to her as your… master." He winced slightly at the end, perhaps expecting this information to be taken poorly. Louise didn't see what the problem was. After all, it was an honor for a mere peasant to be made into the servant of a high ranking noble such as herself.

The young man in question seemed to take the news stoically, and simply moved on to his next question.

"What continent is Tristain on?" He asked.

"Halkegania." Professor Colbert answered him simply.

"I see." The boy responded. Louise sighed with relief as he loosened his grip on her once more, though she refrained from speaking up again. It seemed that the commoner she had summoned was a bit of a brute. She would keep that in mind when she came up with a way to punish him for this indignity later.

Louise quietly listened as the professor and her familiar went back and forth for what seemed like hours. That impertinent dog of hers was asking all sorts of inane questions, about geography, politics, magic, by the founder he had even asked what year it was! It was like he didn't know anything at all.

Throughout it all it seemed like none of the answers he had received were good enough to merit him letting her go, so she was forced to stand rather uncomfortably the entire time. She was beginning to nod off she was so bored. And so it was that she startled rather badly when he finally released her.

"Why you…" She started angrily.

Getting over her shock at being nearly dropped, she jumped back and got ready to give the ungrateful dog a tongue lashing he would never forget when she suddenly trailed off. The boy wasn't even facing in her direction, but instead was looking forlornly out the window. It seemed like he was focused entirely on the twin moons rising across the horizon.

She barely noticed as her professor came up beside her and traced his fingers along her neck, frowning at the light bruises he found there. All she could do was watch silently as her familiar stared into the night.


End file.
